Red all over....

Sometimes when I am stressed I bake, but lately I have taken a hiatus from this whole cooking thing. That doesn't mean I don't like to browse. I have seen cupcakes in a jar, but these favors were too cute and would probably leave anyone in a sugar coma. You can easily make them by halving a cupcake and placing it in jar then filling it with frosting. How sweet. Literally.

Chicken and waffles....

......or Pancakes and Franks. Love these card designs.

On the fourteenth....

Talk about baked out.....I cooked Mississippi mud brownies and a cheesecake roll hurriedly (and tiredly) last night.....but some people were really grateful (others not so much). I feel like I have been going in a million directions and not one of them for me! Selfish I am not but I could use some me time or a tiny bit of support....I barely had time to open my Easter basket from my wonderful mother!! Kudos to her for the layered pearl bracelet, Marc Jacobs bag, and note cards all wrapped in coordinated Lilly P. pink and green. I absolutely loved everything..... Well it was HER birthday on April 10 and due to the banquet for 80 I planned single-handedly I had to skip it. Talk about guilt, lost sleep, stress, and second guessing. Well for the record I did let her know in advance and planned to head up to Bama the following week.....only a few more days....let the driving commence..... Happy Belated B-day Mom--see you Friday!

*On a side note I really want to make this cake via Bakerella. We always had one at Thanksgiving growing up and it is my nemesis.

Tree-riffic!

Love these tiny tree cakes!

Yummo!

I don't think I've blogged about this before, and if I have, please excuse the duplication. My own approaching birthday got me thinking about everyone else's birthdays. Back story, I happen to be the office baking fairy who is responsible for baking homemade treats for my coworkers quarterly.....and much to my chagrin it is time for the third quarter celebration. Admittedly, I have gotten a little tired of baking, but some people genuinely appreciate my time and effort. Fact is, they were complimenting me today, so my hard heart is getting softened at the moment and I may sign onto another year of baking.....time will tell.
So now I am trying to decide what to make......German chocolate, red velvet, pound cake, cookies....or an icebox cake....the classic icebox. To this day I remember Mr. Rogers making one on television, but where did this cake begin? The National Biscuit Company — later shortened to Nabisco introduced these Famous Chocolate Wafers in 1924, along with a ginger and a sugar variety. The chocolate ones might have fallen off the radar as the non-chocolate varieties did had some inventive 1930s housewives not developed s recipe for this glorious chocolate cake.
It is relatively difficult to find these little puppies, but I have procured them from Amazon and they are sometimes carried at Publix. So, if you happen to get your hands on a box or two, here's the recipe.

Ingredients:
3 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 packages (9 ounces) chocolate wafer cookies
Unsweetened cocoa powder

In a large bowl, beat cream, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. To construct the cake you can make a traditional, long cake like the one below or a round cake.

Birthdays bring the best....

Celebrate we will. Because life is short but sweet for certain.--DMB

Monday I got a pleasant call from the front desk informing me that I had a delivery! My sweet parents {mainly Mom} had sent me a beautiful bouquet of flowers for my pending aging birthday week.

Happy....

{Happy} just over a week until my birthday....